I am extremely dedicated to the research training of undergraduates,
graduate students and postdocs and welcome applications from any
motivated individuals who are passionate about exploring evolutionary
biology.
Postcopulatory
sexual selection (including sexual conflict) is a potent evolutionary
force that can drive rapid divergence in reproductive traits. We
are generally interested in the variety of ways in which members
of the same sex compete for fertilizations and in which males and
females cooperate with / attempt to manipulate one another in order
to maximize their own fitness. We mainly investigate the evolution
of sperm production and use strategies in Drosophila, as
such traits exhibit rapid evolutionary divergence. We combine experimental
evolution experiments in the laboratory, which reveal microevolutionary
processes driving sperm length evolution, with comparative/phylogenetic
studies discern the macroevolutionary pattern of sperm length and
of other reproductive and life history traits over the past 60 million
years.
We
have learned that selection on sperm length is mediated through
an interaction with the shape of the female reproductive tract,
and hence these male and female reproductive traits coevolve. Because
spermatogenesis is relatively costly (especially when sperm are
20x longer than the organism), as sperm diverge so do many important
aspects of the life history. In addition, our investigations of
sperm-female and sperm-egg compatibility suggest that sperm length
evolution may not only contribute to differences among species,
it may also be a catalyst for the formation of new species. We are
testing this idea using experimental evolution studies and by examining
reproductive compatibility at interpopulation and interspecific
levels.
For
more details and selected publications on the different aspects
of my research program, follow these links:
Postcopulatory
sexual selection (including sexual conflict) is a potent evolutionary
force that can drive rapid divergence in reproductive traits. We
are generally interested in the variety of ways in which members
of the same sex compete for fertilizations and in which males and
females cooperate with / attempt to manipulate one another in order
to maximize their own fitness. We mainly investigate the evolution
of sperm production and use strategies in Drosophila, as
such traits exhibit rapid evolutionary divergence. We combine experimental
evolution experiments in the laboratory, which reveal microevolutionary
processes driving sperm length evolution, with comparative/phylogenetic
studies discern the macroevolutionary pattern of sperm length and
of other reproductive and life history traits over the past 60 million
years. 
